In the spirit of dance as a bit of joy in the midst of darkness, one traditional mood-lifting quickstep — and three in variation.
1. 2010 Blackpool British Professional Final, Quickstep
Your standard-bearer.
2. “Ballroom Blitz,” Iveta Lukosiute and Nick Young (So You Think You Can Dance)
In its later original-recipe seasons, So You Think You Can Dance struggled as a venue for quality ballroom execution, given a deliberate dearth of ballroom-trained competitors and routines constructed to highlight the skills of contemporary and hip hop-trained dancers. But this number from Ten Dance champion Iveta and tap dancer Nick, choreographed by Jason Gilkison, delivers the best SYTYCD could offer of this particular dance.
3. “Borsalino,” Susanna Rahkamo and Petri Kokko
From this bubbly 1994-95 Original Set Pattern dance skated by the 6-time Finnish ice dance champions was born arguably the finest of all ice dance compulsory patterns: the aptly-named Finnstep.
4. “Borsalino,” Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch
Was it ever perfectly executed? Not quite. Is it a pairs skating routine with the limited time available for free choreography? Of course. Did it still make me smile to see those nods to creating a spirit of old-school dance despite it all? Absolutely.
